Nuclear Policy

Reducing the Risks

The nuclear crisis in Japan has raised alarming questions about the safety of nuclear power plants in our own backyard. There’s good reason for all of us to be worried.

According to a new analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies and the Project On Government Oversight, our nation’s stockpile of radioactive spent fuel is stored in such unsafe conditions that the lives of millions of people who live near nuclear reactors in this country are at risk.

Latest Work

An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale just occurred less than a hour ago. Its epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia, approximately 10 miles from two nuclear power reactors at the North Anna site. According to statement by a representative of Dominion Power the two reactors were designed to withstand a 5.9 to 6.1 quake.

The corporations that own the nation’s nuclear reactors are stuffing about four times more spent fuel into storage pools than the pools were designed to accommodate. Here’s what we can do to fix this dangerous problem.